Monday, September 22, 2008

I have decided to re-activate my blog

This was a nice donkey in Boston.

And some nice penguins.



The good news is I am going to start posting on the blog again. Mainly because I found:


ScribeFire, an extension of Firefox ®,
which enables users to easily drag and drop formatted text from the Web into
their blog(s), post entries, take notes, and optimize their ad
inventory, directly through the Firefox browser.


Friday, December 7, 2007

Ewww... Hillary






Sorry... She is just too damn ugly to be president...

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

15th Anniversary

Married to Leneè for 15 years today! And I found on a fellow bloggers site these Monty Python Sketches! What could be better?

  1. Lumberjack Sketch
  2. Buying a Bed
  3. Hitler in England
  4. Agatha Christie Sketch
  5. Spam
  6. Married
  7. Murderers
  8. Archaeology Today
  9. Mouse Problem
  10. Bicycle repairman!
  11. Most Awful Family In Britain
  12. Albatross
  13. Storytime
  14. Dirty Fork
  15. Blackmail
  16. Bruce
  17. Lingerie Robbery
  18. Lion Tamer
  19. Silly Vicar
  20. Kilimanjaro Expedition
  21. The Visitors Sketch
  22. Trouble at the Mill / The Spanish Inquisition
  23. Aussie hunters
  24. The money programme!
  25. A Man With Three Buttocks
  26. Mattress Skit
  27. How to contradict people
  28. The stolen newsreader
  29. Interesting people
  30. The smuggler
  31. Meat Sketch
  32. Silly Job Interview
  33. Lets talk ant
  34. The Fish Slapping Dance
  35. Timmy williams coffe time!
  36. The Bishop
  37. Semaphore version of Wuthering Heights
  38. Little Red Riding Hood
  39. Exploding Blue Danube
  40. Arthur ‘Two Sheds’ Jackson
  41. Flying Lessons
  42. I Wish to Report a Burglary
  43. Confuse-A-Cat Ltd.
  44. Johann Gambolputty
  45. The Dull Life of a City Stockbroker
  46. How Not To Be Seen
  47. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1
  48. Penguins
  49. Undressing
  50. Tiny Words
  51. Italian
  52. Ministry Of Silly Walks
  53. Spectrum
  54. Burglar
  55. My Brain Hurts!
  56. The Llama
  57. Deja Vu
  58. Office Sketch
  59. Tennis Anyone?
  60. River Tossing
  61. Cheese Shop
  62. Mr Clean-Air System, the Boxer
  63. Camel Spotting/You’re No Fun Anymore
  64. The Dirty Vicar
  65. Christmas in Heaven
  66. Prawn Salad waiting room
  67. Secret Service Dentistry
  68. Spot The Looney
  69. Salad Days
  70. I have a theory!
  71. 20th Century Vole
  72. Dead Parrot
  73. Ypres Sketch
  74. Queen Victoria handicap
  75. Travel Agent
  76. Holy Grail - Black Knight
  77. Self Defence Class
  78. Holy Grail - Killer Rabbit
  79. Monty Python- The Bridge
  80. Holy Grail - French Invasion Plan
  81. Holy Grail - Knights of the Round Table
  82. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
  83. Holy Grail - Bloody peasants!
  84. The Funniest Joke In The World
  85. The Upperclass Twit Of The Year
  86. Every Sperm Is Sacred
  87. Hell’s Grannies
  88. Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook
  89. Hunting Sketch
  90. Man Who Speak Only Partial Words
  91. Expedition to Lake Pahoe
  92. Whizzo Chocolate Company
  93. Whicker Island
  94. Mr. and Mrs. Git
  95. Rival Documentaries
  96. Pilots’ Banter
  97. Cheap Airline
  98. Arthur ‘Two Sheds’ Jackson
  99. Police Station Silly Voices
  100. Art Gallery
  101. International Philosophy
  102. Careers Advisory Board
  103. Me Doctor
  104. How To Irritate People - Need a lift
  105. How To Irritiate People - Restaraunt
  106. Naughty Chemist
  107. Abandoned Sketch
  108. Silly Disturbances
  109. Fish License
  110. Johann Gambolputty
  111. Poofy Judges
  112. Travel Agent
  113. Marriage Guidance Counsellor
  114. Choreographed Conservative Party Speech
  115. Ken Shabby
  116. A Scotsman on a Horse
  117. Fish Club
  118. Falling Minister
  119. Introducing Harry Fink
  120. How to Irritate People - Actors
  121. How to Irritate People - The Joke
  122. Cosmetic Surgery
  123. Norwegian Party
  124. The First Heart Transplant
  125. Pope and Michelangelo
  126. Silly Olimpiad
  127. Antiracist Song
  128. Nudge Nudge
  129. Flying Lessons
  130. The Money Programme
  131. Office Sketch
  132. Hospital sketch

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Marah - Glen Ridge - Round Eye/Barstool

Was at this show with about 30 other people. Love this band....

I don’t even hold the wheel when I’m drivin’

I don’t ever look behind me in the mirror

I don’t care to see a new horizon
Or to watch an old horizon disappear

I ain’t never tasted wine
Or seen the inside of a bar
And I been walkin’ out of line
But that ain’t mattered so far
‘Cause I don’t even hold the wheel when I’m drivin’
And I ain’t hit the breaks
Since I bought this car

It’s like I never been alone for
More than a minute
And I got nothin’ to cry about
When it’s one wrong step got you into all this
And it’s one false move and you’re out…

It’s a time clock
With a late block
Screamin’ walk that walk
Or else you’re all talk
And it’s eavesdrop
And it’s hard luck
Put ‘er in fast
And never don’t stop
Up in a weightless sky
(ooh baby) where no one flies….

Monday, October 8, 2007

Glengarry Glen Ross speech

Required Reading for anyone in sales

Jessica Simpson - These Boots Are Made For Walking

Love the Nancy Sinatra original. Love this video even more.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Champions!

Well we are not winning any beauty contests. But our beloved Ridgewood Giants did win the "League of our Own" Baseball Championship. Gordo is pictured front row left. Regular Season Record 13-3. Then on to beat the Dodgers, Mets, and Best 2 out of 3 vs. the Blue Jays.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

40

It's interesting. I guess I should be more obsessed with the fact that I'm turning 40 on Sunday. Everyone who knows is asking "what are you doing for you birthday". But it's weird. They say it with this distant look in their eye. It's almost as if they just told me some really bad news, and are now measuring my response.

This year, we will be on vacation in OBX, NC. Nothing special planned, although maybe a Lobster Boil in the beach house Sunday. In 40 years, I just don't have a lot of regrets. I have a high IQ (yes, it's true) and a decent education. We have done well enough to provide comfortably for the family. I never got into any major trouble. Fifteen years ago, I married the girl of my dreams. My 3 kids are happy and healthy. People always tell me how well-behaved, respectful, funny, etc... they are. I never hear anything bad. Hey, perception is reality. I have truly learned how not to sweat the small stuff.

"Milestone" birthdays effect everyone differently, and I guess for some they have no effect at all.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Living Vicariously Through Others (Cousin Michael to be specific)

Here I sit. 12:00 Midnight on Wednesday. Wife and kids are away for a night. What am I thinking about? Making money. How much friggin money is it gonna cost to give the three kids all I can toward their future? 500 hundred grand. Cash. One million? So I'm out there working... Taking the train to Long Island. Getting on the 5:55 train from Glen Rock. Meeting with anyone who has even the slightest desire/need to buy what I sell. All to maximize this year's 14% commissions. I assume the commissions will change in 2008. They always do.

What else am I thinking about? Baseball. Even my over 40 team, the Ridgewood Giants, , is rife with politics. I thought the parents of 13 year olds were political...

Here we are... 13-3 in the regular season. We have won the last 10 in a row, and we just won our first playoff game. Our manager is a big pain in the ass, but great at what he does... What I mean by that is he GETS RESULTS. We are in this to win, and he is critical. A lot of the guys can't handle criticism by a peer, but I happen to respond well to it. I am motivated by it and always have been. By my calculations, I batted around .400, and am definitely considered a "tough out". I was in the leadoff spot a lot, the two spot, the seven spot, etc... I stole bases. I drove opposing teams absolutely mad. Mainly, I was the starter in left field, but had a lot of playing time at 3rd base. I also played Center field, right field, and even caught. Not bad for a rookie season (turning 40 August 26). Granted, I am a rookie on a great team who has been playing together for many years. But geeze. There is on guy on the team who I think lies about everything from being a "soap opera star" to playing in college, to playing in the minors. During the first 6 games, he was our starting 3rd baseman. He made at least 20 errors, and that is conservative. His hands are as soft as two by fours, if you know what I mean. Literally, 20 balls hit to him, 20 errors... So, he got moved to 1st base. He is saying whatever he can to hold on to his position. In the depth chart there is another first baseman way ahead of him. However the other firstbaseman also plays left field which affects my playing time... Holy Christ, I can't believe I am thinking about this.

Nevermind all this. The Giants will play 9am on Sunday 8/19 against a tough Mets team. Winner of this will play a 2 out 3 final likely against the Blue Jays. I will play on Sunday, but will be in Nag's Head, North Carolina for the final games. I will be hanging on the beach with Leneè, James, Julia, and Jayne. We will celebrating my 40th birthday quietly with tons of beer. Cousin Michael will be racing his 3rd Ironman. He has started a blog, which I have been bugging him to do for a long time. http://www.ironoutlaw.blogspot.com

Over and out. Another early day in NYC later this morning.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Working Out of Two Bags

Versatile, newly created Phrase describing virtually anything involving the number two... Double dipping...

Monday, June 11, 2007

El Bandito!

You can imagine how hard I laughed when I read this entry in the urban dictionary. As it turns out, we were going out Saturday night to the restaurant, El Bandito with another family. I decided to check out the menu on line, and the first google entry was this one...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=El+Bandito

Needless to say, roughly every hour EL BANDITO! is heard around our house.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Been a while...

Two Marah members in a band called, "Adam and Dave's Bloodline". Another Glen Ridge Recreation sponsored event.

James and Adam and Dave's Bloodline. Says the lead singer looks like adult version of his friend, Colin.

Pattie and Jimmy enjoying Bloodline. Doug had me howling with a great impression of doing the "Pattie".


David settles in to the two-hole during the Giants win vs. the number 1 team the Fair Lawn Dodgers. Big hit at this at bat for the go ahead run.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Pleasant Surprise

While out with Wang-O at Houlihans in Ramsey, locked eyes with Keen-O and as recognition set in, realized that she was hanging with Kim-O!! Joy, joy, happy, happy... Figured Gord-O's stock and mystic would be Hi running with two hotties, so headed over to Brady's in Ramsey for some live music. Fun time.

New Tat

Shading not done yet. The background Irish flag will be orange, white, and green, and the celtic trinity itself will pop bright kelly green. This is my right shoulder. Tat artist "Lucky Mike" from Shotsie's http://www.shotsiestattoo.com/ said it will look awesome.

Marah!!!!

Invited by a good friend to see the private Marah show. Around 70 people gathered at the Glen Ridge Train Station for this nite. Acoustic "Unplugged" evening. This is a video of two great songs from that night. ROUND EYE and a great version of BARSTOOL BOYS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yR9h7rEXI. Marah RULES!!!


Serge and Dave doing an impromptu "Van Jam" after the show.

An Excellent band. Superb musicians. Superb sound quality.

Dave, on sobriety day number 140.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Stanky Twa

That's me at 7 am on the way to the YMCA with cousin, Michael.

Michael lives in Albuquerque, NM. I was in a good mood this particular day because I haven't seen him in a while and I was looking forward to spending some time together. Over the past 6 years Michael has gotten himself into great shape from 240 and gaining to 180 and lean. So, I agreed to forgo my workout this morning for "his" workout. Well, Michael is a two time Ironman, and he came dressed in full regalia with Ironman shirt, visor, and his New Mexico Outlaws bike shorts. I knew as soon as he showed up at my house, that this would be different than the normal trip to the gym.

We did lighter weights, but doubled the reps and did about 1 hour and 45 minutes of total body workout. Hardly stopped in between sets. Sore today, but in a good way.

Good extension, head on the ball. Coach Gordon practicing what he preaches at In The Swing.

Cousin Michael and me.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Tell

On a salescall in Troy, NY... Posing by the client's sign, then hopping through the 3" of mud surrounding the sign. Dress shoes and suit pants full of mud, etc...

In poker (and in meetings for that matter), a "tell" is an unaware gesture or mannerism that signals the others in the room whether you have a good or bad hand. Those with a "poker face" are able to refrain from showing any tells. After a great sales call and client lunch, my coworker and I were debriefing. Sharing our insights, critiquing each others' performance during the meeting, etc... It was then my worlds collided in a most unfortunate manner... Grant stops the conversation, and throws his hands up, and waits until I am completely quiet and focused on what he is going to say next. Finally, when he has my undivided attention, he says, "you breathe like a zoo animal..." Then he gives me a moment to let that sink in. He then goes on to say that it is not usually, but just when something good is happening, like the customer is sending some buying signals. He goes on further to tell me that it is not minor, in fact it was so distracting and loud that he could barely continue his note-taking. And... It was not just this meeting, come to think of it, it was every meeting where something good happened.

Now, my poker buddies have folded pocket aces upon hearing my "Darth Vader" breathing pattern. They know when I am sitting on a monster hand, and they have told me, even gotten extremely pissed off about it (although it doesn't take a lot to piss these particular guys off). The scary thing is, I still can't tell when I am doing it. I forget what the theory was called, but it is in that quadrant of stuff that others can see about me that I cannot. I'm pretty sure its a biological way that my system tries to lower my heart rate or something. I guess I was just in denial about it, but hearing it from a work colleague has validated what I have been hearing from my poker buddies for years.

I really need to stop that, for f__k sake.